You know you are not home when the church bells wake you up at 8am. And a strange dog comes through your bedroom door and puts his cold nose by your face. I was sound asleep. The church bells toll every hour from 8am to 8pm giving the full hour and then once for the half hour. It's harder to hear them during the day because of the traffic. You forget about open spaces when you are in the city and you have to look up up and above to see a fragment of the sky.
Today we walked a few blocks to my grandmother's apartment. We had to avoid near death experiences every time we crossed a street. People drive crazy. There are no stop sign and the few that exist no one respects. So you have to cross the street to your own risk. We walked to the park, a central square, that is surrounded by the public hospital, the public library, the public school, several cafes and restaurants, and a shopping center, a small one. There were only a few preschoolers in the park because school is in session. It's a pleasant 65 degrees. Blake and Brett played a little bit and run after the pigeons. There were four or five parakeets and they were impressed to see them.
We had lunch with my grandmother. I walked to a store to buy some food and came back walking to my mom's house. Walking is going to be the thing here if I am not going to put 10 pounds before I leave.
The newness of being here has somehow faded already since everybody seems to believe that I can solve their issues among each other. Of course I can't. But they think I can somehow intervene. Every one has their own point of view and is uncapable of seeing the point of view of the other. Which is so sad. Being old is no walk in the park. My grandmother is not having a good time at all. I can understand her problems, but I also see that my mother can barely cope with her own life and take care of her, when they can't even get along for five minutes. It is very stressful. No one wants to serve the other, it is all about what each wants...
No comments:
Post a Comment